Naxos has been a pretty cool place, it has a nicer vibe than Milos and we’ve really enjoyed being here, it’s certainly a ‘bit’ cheaper which Shelley commented on Trip Advisor and is now in the middle of a long ‘discussion’ with several regular contributors! Apparently Milos does not receive a great deal of visitors due to not being on the ‘cruise-ship’ route and due to marketing, they’re very focussed on the American market – why this means such high prices is a curious one, the Americans’ have less money than anyone and if I were Mr. Milos I’d be aiming for Mr. European to come visiting!
The boat from Milos to Naxos is roughly a nine hour journey, taking in the Islands for Ios and Santorini along the way – as mentioned before, a mini-cruise in the Med, take a book to read and enjoy the sunshine. On arrival you’re greeted by the numerous guest house owners, lackeys and suchlike, all offering a place to stay. Having had our fingers burnt in Milos – the little old lady with more wrinkles than a pair of corduroy trousers, we were well prepared with questions. Such as – does the studio have an inside toilet or do you crap out of the window, is it on a hill and have you got a car to take us there.
Opting to go with Anna, we drove to a purpose built block and we quickly dismissed the first room shown – one tiny window, stuck in the corner of the block which really wasn’t for us. Nor was the second place, a nice enough room but below us were a group of Aussie girls, already on the sauce and to be honest, there’s only so much screeching you can put up with so we decided to continue our search elsewhere when Anna mentioned one more place, further in town with a great view and no Aussie birds beneath us…
With little hope that the next place would be the one, we jumped in the car and quickly arrived at the next place – a local street, kids tearing up and down on pushbikes, little old ladies chatting with other little old ladies… Entering the building we saw that the stairs were being used as a cupboard for fruit and vegetables and other odds and sods – it wasn’t looking too promising and only when Anna mentioned that this was her mums place, her father is a farmer (we could help ourselves to the fruit and veg) and the studio above had been recently decorated, that we started to get interested.
We took it straight away – we’ve a great studio, a massive roof terrace and what with being on a hill a superb vista of the town along with the sweep of the bay and Paros in the distance; it’s a superb place – ‘mama’ has provided us with a couple of lovely meals (we keep poking our heads around her door, saying hi and looking hungry in the hope of more home-cooked food!)
Whilst Sifnos is still the best place we’ve seen, Naxos has been pretty special. It’s got a great little centre, full of tavernas and numerous bars – whilst buying some provisions we asked the shop owner to recommend somewhere to eat, where he would go and he suggested a great little locals place just around the corner – we found the restaurant and to be fair the food has been the best so far, juicy pork-chops, great fish and good wine plus we’re paying ‘regular’ prices – the waiter has also taken a shine to Shelley and is constantly chatting to her, smiling and generally ignoring me – though it’s a small price to pay for such great food!
We’ve hired a scooter and toured the Island. We’ve seen a statue of Dimitris – and also a temple/structure older than the Acropolis, kite and wind surfers on one corner of the Island. Naxos also has numerous beaches which cater to nudists, though why is it all nudists seem to be middle-aged wife swapping types or single men walking up and down the beach, hands on hips with (if truth be told) not that much to be boasting about, it’s not like it’s cold here?
It’s been 6 nights now and thoughts of home and finding a job are things we’re starting to talk about, do we stay here for a further week, getting out kit off, joining the nudists? Or do we squeeze in another Island? Do we leave here and see a different country? Do we get a flight back to UK?
Decisions decisions!
CraSh Williams' Blog 